Newly-minted GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry told Iowans yesterday why he’s running for president: “One of the reasons that I’m running for president is I want to make sure that every young man and woman who puts on the uniform of the United States respects highly the president of the United States,” he said. NBC’s First Read asked, “Does that mean he doesn’t think the U.S. military respects its current president? That’s quite a charge from someone who isn’t the commander-in-chief.” Richard Allen Smith over at VetVoice blog observes that Perry “smear[ed] the professionalism” of the troops. “American troops are perfectly capable of disagreeing with the policies of a President and still holding respect for the office of Commander-in-Chief,” Smith writes, “For Rick Perry to suggest otherwise is nothing more than a below the belt smear against their professionalism.”